Just last week, on Oct. 29, the husband-and-wife duo Michael and Jeniphur Pasquarello unveiled their fourth restaurant, Kensington Quarters, in Philadelphia’s ever-expanding Fishtown neighborhood. (The Pasquarellos’ other restaurants include Cafe Lift, Prohibition Taproom and Bufad.) Developing the relationship between kitchen and butcher, Kensington Quarters acts as much more than your standard restaurant. Concrete and exposed pipes, an open kitchen, an upstairs classroom and celebrated partnerships with local farms define the newest Fishtown concept. Along with butcher and partner Bryan Mayer, the Pasquarellos have brought butchering and responsible sourcing of ingredients one step closer to the dining room.
The farm presence in the 80-seat dining room can be felt passing through the glass rampart off of the street. The brightly lit entry reveals a market ambiance. Pasquarello makes it clear that “this is not a steak house”; rather, chef Damon Menapace is navigating the kitchen through the craftily constructed menu including pig trotter-ladden lasagna ($16), pork liver terrine ($10) and chicken roulade ($25). Mayer’s guiding light in the butchering process, from upbringing to delivery, will be caressed by chef Menapace’s calculated steps in and around farmhouse-style cooking. Even the wine tap system gives a nod to the sensitive eco-balance of Kensington Quarters mission. Organic and non-GMO fact sheets are online for guests to share in the partnership of eco-conscious dining.
Going even further to bring an educational forum to the blossoming neighborhood, the second-floor classroom will soon launch with instructional pieces inspired by Kensington Quarters’ flair for high-standard cooking. The second-floor space cozily seats around 70 guests with an additional bar flanked by dining room and street views.
Most surprising? “How much customers don’t mind seeing hanging carcasses in the walk-in cooler,” Pasquarello chuckles. “Stop trying to cover it up,” defines what is going on at Kensington Quarters. The white-washed walls, the transparency of the process in preparing the dishes, the partnerships with suppliers—little is behind any curtain at Kensington Quarters.
Dinner will be served seven days a week. The butcher shop will be open Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Find Kensington Quarters at 1310 Frankford Ave. in Philadelphia; phone: (267) 314-5086.
- Photography: Jim Berman
